While one Eastern Conference team lost a star for the season this weekend, a Western Conference club could be preparing to welcome one back to the court. According to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group, Andrew Bogut may return to action for the Warriors tonight in Toronto. Here are a few more notes out of the West:

• Before they drafted Damian Lillard, the Trail Blazers tried hard to make Eric Bledsoe their point guard of the future, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com, who says the Blazers offered Jamal Crawford and a first-round pick for the Clippers' backup point guard last year. "Yeah, I knew [the Trail Blazers] were calling for me," Bledsoe said. "They have a great fan base, but I wasn't too worried about it at the time."
• Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien tells Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal that Memphis isn't in a rush to make another trade, and "it's more likely than not that we do nothing." According to Tillery, the team has received a number of proposals for Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph since December, but none were viewed as fair-value offers.
• The Lakers are still waiting to find out whether they'll receive a disabled player exception after losing Jordan Hill for the season. GM Mitch Kupchak is expecting to hear from the league sometime this week, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
• Appearing on 103.3 KESN-FM in Dallas, ESPN.com's Marc Stein suggests that the Mavericks have a better chance at landing Dwight Howard via free agency rather than via trade (link from the Dallas Morning News).
• For his part, Howard tells Sam Amick of USA Today that he doesn't have time to focus on free agency at this point.

At 26-16, the Golden State Warriors have been among the league's breakout teams this season. While it's not necessarily conclusive to evaluate lineups on paper, it's interesting to think about how center Andrew Bogut figures to fit into the mix next to Stephen Curry and All-Star David Lee. The 28-year-old former number one pick didn't offer a timetable on his return but spoke with reporters tonight about his rehab, how he fits with the Warriors, and offered some thoughts on the Bucks. Here are a few highlights from his interview (credit goes to Rusty Simmons of SFGate.com). 

• Although his road to recovery has had its share of setbacks and has taken longer than expected, Bogut has no choice but to go through this process in order to come back strong. He also admits that the Warriors' success this season "definitely helps my sanity."
• Bogut is confident about how he fits with the team and says that the pressure he faced in Milwaukee to be a scorer isn't there in Golden State. He mentions his passing, defense, and rebounding abilities as ways that he can help this team with multiple scorers in place. 
• With regard to Scott Skiles, he appeared surprised when told that his former coach had been fired in Milwaukee and gave him one hundred percent credit for teaching him how to make an impact defensively. 
• Reflecting on his time with the Bucks, Bogut felt nostalgic upon returning to Milwaukee as he traveled with the team for tonight's game. Thought admitting that he wasn't necessarily itching be traded, he knew that the team was looking to find a way to move Stephen Jackson at the time.  

Andrew Bogut said today that he doesn't think he'll miss the season, but indicated that it could be awhile before he returns, as Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group reports. "The season's five to six months before the playoffs, which we have a great chance of making," Bogut said. "I don't think it's going to be five to six months. I hope it won't be. It would be a massive setback if it was. I'm not going to say a month or two months or three months, but I definitely think I'll be back." His comments came in a joint press conference held by Bogut and the Warriors to confirm that the two sides are on the same page as he recovers from left ankle surgery. There's more from that press conference and other Warriors news this evening, and we'll round it up here.

• Bogut explained that he's exhausting all options as he attempts to return, tweets Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle. "I’ve almost resorted to Voodoo doctors," Bogut said. "I’ve seen everyone under the hat to try and get this ankle right."
• We heard earlier this morning that the microfracture aspect of Bogut's surgery in April wasn't a major part of the procedure, but Steward notes that Bogut said today that the entire procedure significantly lengthened the recovery time for the fractured ankle, which he first hurt in January. Without the surgery, Bogut said he might have been ready in July.
• Even if rookie Festus Ezeli emerges as a force inside, the Warriors aren't going to trade Bogut, tweets fellow Bay Area News Group scribe Marcus Thompson II.
• Coach Mark Jackson mentioned Jeremy Tyler and Kent Bazemore by name when he spoke about the team's desire to shuttle young players back and forth between the team's D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, as Steward also noted.
• David Lee applauds the Warriors front office for acquiring Bogut last season as well as the others the team picked up during the summer, and thinks Golden State's turnover problems this season will improve as everyone on the team becomes more familiar with each other, as he tells HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram.

Microfracture surgery carries a worrisome stigma for NBA players, with guys like Penny Hardaway, Chris Webber, and Greg Oden having undergone the procedure on their knees in the past. However, in revealing that Andrew Bogut underwent microfracture surgery on his ankle this year, Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa Times cautions that Bogut's situation is different.

According to Thompson, the microfracture aspect wasn't the major part of Bogut's surgery, and simply addressed a "minor" cartilage issue. The original timetable for Bogut's return took into account the procedure, and while the Warriors had hoped that timetable had accelerated, the big man's latest setback suggests he won't be back at full strength until 2013.

Here are a few more notes from around the Pacific Division:

• Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni scoffed at speculation that Pau Gasol isn't a fit for his system, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News details. "I don't see how a player as smart as he is, as talented as he is and efficient as he is, doesn't fit in anybody's schemes," D'Antoni said. "I got to reevaluate myself if I can't play with Pau Gasol. Come on. He's won two championships."
• Tyreke Evans is off to a good start in a new role for the Kings, and coach Keith Smart doesn't believe the strides Evans has made are the result of his playing for a contract. Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee has the details.
• According to WAVY-TV 10 sports director Bruce Rader, plans for a new arena in Virginia Beach have taken another step forward. Rader reports that Virginia Beach mayor Will Sessoms will ask city council for permission to request $150MM from the state of Virginia to help with construction costs and relocation costs for a professional sports team, which Rader assumes will be the Sacramento Kings.
• Tom Ziller of Sactown Royalty provides his own take on the Virginia Beach news, noting that even if all of Rader's details are accurate, there are still plenty of roadblocks the project must overcome.

For all their struggles this season, the 7-7 Lakers are just a game out of first place in the Pacific Division, behind the Clippers and Warriors, who are tied at 8-6. We're still less than a month into the season, but the Clippers, who've lost four in a row, may wind up ruing their inability to keep their Staples Center rivals at arm's length. We've got both L.A. teams covered, plus more, as we round up the Pacific. 

• Andrew Bogut won't return as planned on Saturday, and the Warriors center isn't sure when he'll play again, writes Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group. Bogut thinks it was probably a mistake to rush his recovery from left ankle surgery so he could make it back for the start of the season. He played in four games before his latest absence.
• The relationship between Chris Paul and coach Vinny Del Negro, both in the final seasons of their contracts, could ride on the Clippers' ability to quickly return to winning, opines Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
• Antawn Jamison and Jodie Meeks have helped the Lakers' bench improve, but Jamison's play has come at the cost of minutes for fellow offseason signee Jordan Hill, notes Brian Kamenetzky of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
• We're in the midst of covering the Pacific Division in our Offseason In Review series, hitting the Warriors today with the rest of the division's teams to follow.

After a startling slow start to the 2012/13 season, Manu Ginobili is beginning to break out and play like the future Hall of Famer we're accustomed to seeing, writes the San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald. 

• According to Yahoo! Sports reporter Marc J. Spears, Warriors center Andrew Bogut will return to the lineup on Saturday, December 1st against the Pacers. 
• In a mailbag from her readers, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer discusses whether or not the Cavaliers would have any interest in acquiring Sixers swingman Evan Turner. 
• Charlotte Observer reporter Rick Bonnell gives five reasons why the Bobcats are different this season than they were last year. 
• With all their injuries in the front court, the Spurs are thankful to have re-signed Boris Diaw in the offseason, writes the San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald. 
• Magic center Nikola Vucevic is beginning to receive playing time down the stretch of close games, writes the Orlando Sentinel's Josh Robbins. He could develop into a major asset for the team sooner than later. 

• If the Maloofs are serious about trying to keep the Kings in Sacramento, they need to cut ties with team president Geoff Petrie, argues Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee. According to Voisin, the repeated mistakes made by the NBA's longest-tenured head of basketball operations have "stripped the once-proud franchise of its passion, its identity, its collective soul."
• Coach Mike D'Antoni will make his official debut on the Lakers' bench tonight, he confirmed today to the media, including Mike Trudell of Lakers.com.
• As the Mavericks prepare to face former Dallas point guard Jason Kidd and the Knicks tomorrow night, the Mavs' new point guard, Darren Collison is struggling, as NBA.com's Jeff Caplan writes.
• Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com details how Nicolas Batum's offseason trip to Cameroon gave him a new-found perspective on life during his free agent negotiations.
• Andrew Bogut, who has only appeared in four games during his Warriors' career, will miss at least three more contests before hopefully returning to practice next Monday, the team announced today in a press release.
• Another injured star in the West, Dirk Nowitzki, is now aiming to return to the Mavericks in mid-December, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.

During an interview at the Lakers practice facility today, Mike D'Antoni acknowledged that his job will be to compete for a championship this season and added, "I told the team if we're not averaging 110-115 points a game, we need to talk." Zach Harper of CBS Sports relayed a plethora of other notable quotes as the new Lakers coach touched upon the offensive freedom he plans to give his players, the promise he sees in the second unit, and the notion that maximizing the amount of possessions per game will help offset one bad shot or bad call affecting the final outcome. Here's more of what we've heard tonight out of the Western Conference: 

• Dwight Howard told reporters that he is playing at about "75-80%" and still needs to get his explosiveness back to where he can sustain it over longer stretches of the game (Arash Markazi of ESPN LA tweets). 
• Marc Stein of ESPN mentions that Raja Bell would naturally be a target for the Lakers to pursue at this point, but him still being under contract with the Jazz, Los Angeles' $100MM payroll and a full roster remain as the most significant obstacles in their way (Twitter link). 
• The Suns approach to rebuilding includes stockpiling assets and being prepared for circumstances in which a good player may become available via trade, similar to how Houston was able to acquire James Harden from Oklahoma City, writes Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. 
• Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group (Sulia link) reports that Warriors center Andrew Bogut has received multiple injections of Regenokine in his left ankle to help with his overall recovery process. 
• Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside explains why a trip to the D-League for Scott Machado will be a golden opportunity for him to garner attention as a strong talent, something that would have been difficult without any significant playing time on the Rockets. 

You'd be hard-pressed to argue that the undefeated Knicks and the defending champion Heat aren't currently the two best teams in the Eastern Conference. Both clubs head west tonight to take on a pair of Western Conference contenders, with the Knicks in San Antonio to face the Spurs, and the Heat playing the Nuggets in Denver. As we await what should be a great night of NBA action, let's round up the latest updates out of the West....

• In a pair of columns for the Houston Chronicle, Jerome Solomon argues that the Rockets are handing the Royce White situation poorly, and that patience, not fines, should be central to the team's approach.
• Discussing his ankle injury on KNBR in San Francisco, Andrew Bogut said the Warriors have been supportive and haven't pressured him since he arrived in Golden State, but that he still feels as if he's let people down. Brad Gagnon of Sports Radio Interviews has the quotes.
• Timberwolves president David Kahn is expecting great things from his club when everyone starts getting healthy, as he tells Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
• It was Jerry Buss who had the final say on the Lakers hiring Mike D'Antoni over Phil Jackson, a source tells Joe McDonnell of FOX Sports West.
• ESPN.com's five-man panel weighs in on how D'Antoni's arrival will affect the performances of the Lakers' stars, supporting cast, and defense.
• The list of head coaches that Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld believes could be on the hot seat are mostly from Eastern Conference clubs, but Kyler identifies Keith Smart of the Kings as one coach who might be in trouble if his team continues to struggle.
• In a piece for the New York Times, Beckley Mason asks whether Rudy Gay, the Grizzlies' highest-paid player, is the team's centerpiece or an expensive accessory.

Steve Nash said he's "thrilled, but definitely shocked" by Mike D'Antoni's hiring as Lakers coach, and expressed a level of disappointment about not getting to play for Phil Jackson, as Sam Amick of USA Today chronicles. "Well I mean, of course. In some ways, I thought it was Phil, and so I was geared up for that, and excited in a totally different respect because of his experience and success, and particularly here with this organization," Nash said. "That would have been a whole different circumstance that I would've been excited for as well. But I'm back with Mike and thrilled." We have plenty more on D'Antoni, his new team, and their Pacific Division rivals right here.

• Kobe Bryant expressed sentiments similar to Nash's, and said he and his teammates all believed Jackson would be the next coach, notes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
• D'Antoni laid out the expectations for his team, telling Mason & Ireland of ESPNLA 710 radio, "If we're not at least in the hunt, a serious hunt, then I've failed as a head coach. I'm comfortable with that," as ESPNLA's Ramona Shelburne documents. D'Antoni also indicated he planned to reach out to Nate McMillan about joining his staff.
• Warriors center Andrew Bogut will be out longer than the team's original seven-to-10 day projection, and might not return before January, according to Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group. It's unlikely he'll return before December as he nurses his surgically repaired left ankle, Thompson says.
• Virginia Beach mayor Will Sessoms confirmed a meeting recently took place between him and a representative of an unnamed NBA team, writes Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee. According to other reports, the representative was Kings co-owner George Maloof. The mayor said the team believes the area is a "good market."